


Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 1

by Zurrunba



Series: Cantera [1]
Category: Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Genre: Cantera, Fillia, Galactic Empire, Gen, M/M, Science Fiction, foundation, galaxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 06:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20204908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zurrunba/pseuds/Zurrunba
Summary: The Galactic Empire has fallen, with kings, tyrants, and other rulers scrambling to seize power in systems across the galaxy. One such ruler is the Tyrant of Fillia, who thirty years before had crushed a rebellion from the planet Cantera, leaving desolation in its wake. Now the people of Cantera just wish to get on with their lives, but then from somewhere the tyrant gets wind that perhaps things weren't as calm and docile on that planet as the King of Cantera portrayed.





	Cantera: A Foundation Story-Part 1

“What do we do now?” asked one of Hiero’s advisors.

“I’m open to any suggestions,” was the king’s reply.

The Fillian Tyrant had left in a storm of rage. The people of Cantera now could only wait to see what he would do next. He had left King Hiero and his advisors to wonder what the planet’s next move should be. The planet had been devastated thirty years before when the Fillian Empire had fought its civil war. Cantera had been the focal point of the rebellion, and since then the tyrants had made sure that the people knew who was in charge. The people feared that the tyrant may just send some army to their planet to devastate and pillage the place to teach them a lesson.

Hiero sat with his three advisors at the table just vacated by the tyrant. Before this unexpected visit the rulers of Cantera had hoped to be able to keep themselves out of the microscope of the tyrant and his cronies. The king had been doing everything he was asked to do and required to do (which also from time to time required the greasing of a few palms to make them look the other way). Something on Fillia had changed. Likely some bureaucrat was responsible due to some grudge or scheme to gain favors of some kind. For the past twenty years everyone on Cantera had been trying to push the notion that they were still a wrecked planet struggling to survive. It looked like that cover had been exposed. Just what the tyrant thought the people here possessed or were capable of was unclear. 

“What do you think they suspect of us here, specifically?” the king asked. “Do they actually know anything in particular?”

“We can only guess,” said Oris, the minister in charge of manufacturing. “They could’ve planted a spy or two in our plants and factories. They wouldn’t have to be too high up on the totem poles to learn a lot of our more secret activities.”

“True,” responded Iar, the minister of food and agriculture, “but much of what you refer to can easily be explained under the guise of rebuilding the planet and finding new ways to provide food for the people and for export.”

“I don’t think it’s a spy,” said Grij, the defense minister (a position that shouldn’t really exist on a provincial planet within the empire, but unofficially the king had created the position). “At least not a spy in the sense of a regular leaker to the tyrant. It’s more likely gossip of some sort that found its way to Fillia. That would then give anyone an excuse to blow it up. If he really suspected what we were doing here, the Tyrant would likely have brought half his fleet with him and not been too interested in talking.”

The king nodded. That made some sense judging by what was known about the tyrant. Something would have to be done to deflect attention from them. They weren’t ready to resist any kind of invasion by the Fillian Fleet and shock troops. Some weak defenses had been put up that were meant to be the start of much stronger ones. The capital apparently didn’t know about them, and after the tyrant left it was obvious that they weren’t even noticed. So what did the people in the capital think was going on here?

“Do we have anyone that we could ask what’s causing this scrutiny?” asked Hiero.

“Perhaps one of our Foundation friends,” Grij replied. “I hear that they’ve got spies about everywhere in the side of the galaxy.”

“They might,” said Oris, “but how far can we trust them? They can as easily have nefarious plans for us just as the Tyrant does.”

“Yes,” said the king, “but unlike the tyrant they’re not constantly breathing down our necks, waiting for an excuse to strike.” After thinking for another minute he asked, “Are there any Foundation diplomats still on the planet?”

“There’s Tempus,” Grij said. “He’d been planning to return to Terminus when the Tyrant suddenly appeared. He’s likely hiding in one of his safe houses till all’s clear.”

“Can we get word to him before he disappears? Certainly he’d like to know what we’ve just been talking about with our visitor.”

“You’re going to just tell him everything we discussed with our visitor?” asked Oris.

“Don’t be absurd,” the king said. “There are plenty of tidbits we can give him to help us out.”

______________________________

It was harder to find the man than they had first suspected. The one place they knew of that had crossed paths with Tempus was a small inn on the outskirts of the capital. It was clear that the Foundation agent wasn’t there, but the owners tended to keep any such knowledge they had to themselves. They clearly knew that Cantera’s government wouldn’t cause them too much trouble for fear that it might antagonize the leaders in Terminus. Finally they decided to leave a short message before returning to the palace.

The king felt despondent since he wasn’t sure what else to do. They would continue to discuss options to safeguard the planet, but the prospects were grim. They agreed that there wouldn’t be another council meeting for four days unless something changed. It was quite surprising then to the king when he turned the hall to his bed chambers and nearly bumped into Tempus himself.

Without preamble he said, “I got your message, your highness. Why don’t we get inside your rooms before people notice you have an unexpected visitor.”

Hiero agreed and led the agent into one of his private offices before closing and locking the door.

“Why do I get the feeling that you could’ve easily just snuck in these rooms and surprised me there without causing any possible spectacle?”

“Call it respect or decorum, if you wish. Despite what you think the Foundation doesn’t always try to demean people in their homes; at least not unless they try to humiliate and show disrespect to us first.”

“That’s refreshing.” He did his best not to sound too sarcastic, but the smile on Tempus’s face indicated how he read the remark.

“But let’s get to the point. What is it you wish to discuss with me? With your beloved tyrant gone I wish to get myself back to the mayor with your words and my report.”

Hiero hadn’t been sure what to divulge to this man. No matter how friendly he presented himself to be, he was still a foreign agent to a nation bent on conquest of their own.  
Granted the Foundation mostly operated defensively and then struck back at their agitators. At this point in time it would be a while before any conquests would get to this sector of the galaxy. That also meant that if the Fillians did attack again it would be impossible for them to come directly to Cantera’s aid. 

“The tyrant suspects us of something, though I can’t figure out what. Somehow a lot of information seems to be slipping out through unknown sources to the Fillians.” After saying this he continued on explaining the few things he was sure must have gone through, but just how much had made it out was impossible to tell. The most logical explanation was that someone was passing things on either directly or inadvertently. There were a lot of people involved in manufacturing and assembling that could’ve told some random people about their suspicions.

Tempus glanced at him for a moment. Something was conflicting in his mind as he was clearly tyring to decide whether or not to say something. Finally he responded, “I can answer the question as to how he heard about some of your weapons industry going on here; or at least the likeliest. You have a spy in your council.”

If he hadn’t already been sitting Hiero might have fallen to the floor. One of his counselors? How was that possible? He’d known all three of them for years and none of them had seemed anything but loyal. The instinctive thing to do was to just throw this notion aside and tell this Foundationer to get lost; but then, something in the back of his mind stayed him. 

Folding his arms he asked, “What makes you think it’s one of them?”

“Our own sources on Fillia. I can’t tell you which one, just that someone from the council was passing things on. The method used and what is being passed on isn’t clear.”

“If information is just getting passed on when received, the Fillian navy should’ve destroyed us by now with all the things we regularly discussed.”

“Likely the person is holding back and passing on a piece at a time. If money is the motivation, it wouldn’t be in his interest to just hand it all over at once.”

As disgusting as this talk was, it did make some sense. If it were anything like loyalty to the empire the planet would be a heap of ruins. Money as the motive? Each of his counselors was fairly well off coming from wealthy families. Who wouldn’t be content with what they already possessed? None of them had any large scale imperial ambitions that he could determine. There was always the possibility that one of them despises the Foundation more than the Fillian Tyrants. No matter what the reason, he had to figure out which one of them it was and neutralize him. They all have the potential of doing great damage with the power that they wield in the specific fields.

“You’ve given me a great deal to think about, Tempus. Will you be leaving the planet by tomorrow?"

“Tonight, if I can help it. There’s a possible means out that I can use. First I’ll have to decide if I don’t wish to stick around to see certain things play themselves out.”

After saying this he let himself out of the king’s office and then the residence. Hiero never did figure out the complete route he used to do so.  
Alone, the king went to one of the walls and opened one of the locked cabinets in his office. Pulling out the key card he opened it and removed three files before locking it back up again. Three personnel files; those of the three counselors. Hopefully something in these files could lead him to the traitor and arrange to trap him before it was too late.

___________________________________

Two days after the Tyrant of Fillia departed from Cantera a small ship crossed into the nearby system of Rhea Alta, a star with no inhabitable planets, but once contained a huge mining industry for iron and tin. For decades the mining bases had been empty, for after the chaos following the collapse of the Galactic Empire many things had been left in ruins. This star system and what it contained had mostly been forgotten.

A natural satellite surrounding one of the outer gas giants contained the largest of those mining bases. It was larger than most bases that existed within the sphere of the Fillian Empire. The small ship headed straight to that base where ten much larger ships were already docked. The message it carried concerned the extra undocumented industrial output that was happening on the planet Cantera. What was being built wasn’t named, but it didn’t take a genius to know that it wasn’t to add to the glory of Fillia.

The captain who’d been put in charge of base restoration turned to his lieutenant. “Get this message to Tyrant Yth immediately. Inform him of the contents of this message and that my recommendation is an immediate assault on the planet Cantera.”

Saluting, the lieutenant headed for one of the faster ships docked at the eastern hangar and set the coordinates for Fillia. They couldn’t risk the interception of a transmission from this base. They weren’t ready for the people of Cantera to know how close they were to annihilation. 

Here ends Part 1 of Cantera: A Foundation Story


End file.
